Method and apparatus for igniting the charge in internal-combustion engines.



C. T. MASON.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING THE CHARGE IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. I91].

Patented Apr. 8, I919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I SIVUQ/IVIlOL Cid/Zea 71%46070 C. T. MASON.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING THE CHARGE IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION FI LED NOV. 9.1917.

1,299,592. Patented Apr. 8,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- gvwuntoz 67207866 fms'am,

QM 32,11 61mm,

C. T. MASON. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR lGNlTING THE CHARGE IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 9, 191].

Patented Apr. 8, 1915).

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 wun UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES THOMAS MASON, OF SUMT'ER, SOUTH CAROLINA,ASSIGNOR TO SPLITDORF ELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEWJERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING THE CHARGE IN INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

1,299,592, Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 8, 1919,

Application filed November 9. 1917. Serial No. 201,114.

To all whom it may concern: with certain important modifications in the Be it known that I, CHARLES THOMAS design of the rotor and the pole pieces of the 55 MASON, a citizen of the United States, residgenerating coil.

ing at Sumter, in the county of Sumterand In the accompanying drawings, in which State of South Carolina, have invented cerlike letters and figures of reference denote tain new and useful Improvements in the same parts wherever they are shown,

, Methods and Apparatus for Igniting the Figure 1 is a view partly in cross section 60 Charge in Internal-Combustion Engines, of of a magneto embodying the method of conwhich the following is a specification, ref- Struction constituting my invention;

erence being had 'to the accompanying Fig. 2 is a view partly in cross section at drawing. 7 right angles to Fig. 1; and

My invention relates to a method and'ap- Fig. 8 is a diagram of the complete igni- 65 paratus for igniting the charge in internal tion system fora multicylinder motor with combustion engines, and has for its objects the cylinders set at an angle, such as used the provision of an ignition system wherein for aeronautic purposes.

a high tension magneto is employed capable In magnetos of the general type in which of producing sparks of equal intensity for a rotor having portions of permanent and 70 the various cylinders of the engine; the'proopposite polarity are employed, the said vision of an ignition system in which the rotor has heretofore usually had one and magneto may be employed in connection sometimes two horns or lobes of the same with an engine having its cylinders arranged polarity, and has, therefore, been adapted to in groups and at an angle from the vertical give two or four equally spaced impulses or 75 in relation to the crank shaft; and the propeaks of current per revolution. The presvision of a system wherein the maximum ent system being intended for use in multiamount of flux available from the permacylinder engines with the cylinders set at an nent magnets employed is utilized. Ancillary angle, several peaks of current or sparks per objects will more fully hereinafter appear. revolution are required, and for the sake of 80 My invention consists more in the prinillustration the following description is ciple of design or the method of producing given of the system adapted for use with a ignition, than in the actual mechanical artwelve-cylinder engine.

rangement of the parts of the magneto, as 'The numeral 1 denotes a permanent magnumerous arrangements will be obvious to net suitably supportedupon th b 2 f th 85 those skilled in the art. All such arrangemachine. In suitable end plates 3 and 4 are inents will, however, embody the principle jo al d th shaft 5 and 6 of the rotor,

of design which I claim as neW. comprisingthe members 7 and 8. These The accompanying drawings shoW one members are separated by a non-magnetic form of magneto adapted for use in this sysblock 9, so that 7 really constitutes a revolv- 9 tern, but it will be understood that the hereing extension of the pole N of the magnet, in disclosed type is selected merely for the and 8 a revolving extension of the pole S.

sake of illustration and I am not confined The member 7 is provided in the case of a to-it. magneto for twelve-cylinder engines, with a The magneto illustrated is of the well plurality of lobes or prongs designated N to known Dixietype, the principle of which is N inclusive, and the member 8 wlth a series described-in reissue patent to me, No. 14,373, of prongs S to S inclusive. The ends of 45 dated October 2d,1917. In the said patent, these prongs or lobes extend toward the the main elements, of the magneto comprise center of the machine and are adapted to roa permanent field magnet having a rotor tate in front of the polepieces P, P. The axially alined with its poles, and a currentpole pieces P, P are provided with a pluralgenerating coil with two pole pieces, each ity of inwardly extending faces, 1 to P in- 50 havinga radial face lying adjacent thepath elusive, thereby forming a plurality of flux of'travel of the rotor. The present system paths from the rotor through the core Q employs substantially the same arrangement carrying the generating windings.

. of the. elements constituting the machine, .,,I ..conS .der 011e,,of the important features of my invention to be the provision of a plurality of extensions (P I, etc), for each pole piece and the provision of a plurality of lobes (N N etc.), for each member of the rotor.

Referring now to magnetos previously known, it will be noted that the pole pieces of these magnetos having only one polar face adjacent the rotor, that if, for the purpose of obtaining sparks at angular or irregular intervals, the rotor was subdivided as just described, the cross section of the lobes had to be greatly lessened, as well as the width of the polar face of the pole pieces, with the result that a very weak spark would be obtained, because of the small area of the opposed flux-gathering surfaces.

It will be observed that by my method of increasing the number of faces in each pole piece, (which may be termed a delta form of construction) and opposing to each polar face a rotor lobe, that the total amount of opposed surface between rotor and pole pieces is substantially qual to that obtained with the single lobe machines shown in the prior art, and the magnetic break between the large number of pole faces is greater than in the single lobe machines, resulting in a magneto that will generate at a lower initial speed.

Considering the rotor to be turning from left to right, Fig. 3, lobe N breaks from the pole face P and simultaneously N breaks from P and N breaks from P while lobes S, S and S make on P P and P respectively. On the other side, S breaks from P S from P and S from P, while N N and Y make on P, P and P respectively.

When the lobes break and open away from the respective pole faces about .020, the cam 0 presents a lobe or high side against the fiber block F of the interrupter mechanism, thereby opening the platinum points X and Y, and interrupting the primary circuit at the peak, allowing magnetism to pass through the pole pieces'P, P and through the core Q, thereby producing a high tension current in the secondary windings at the proper time, the interrupter opening for each peak with the break at the pole pieces uniform, so that all sparks are of the same intensity.

In a magneto of the foregoing description, the shaft 5 will be driven at twice engine speed, with the result that magnetic waves, impulses or peaks will be obtained fifteen degrees apart relative to the engine. The interrupter mechanism, which may be of any suitable mechanism, and which is merely indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 3, is driven at engine speed by means of the gear H mounted on the rotor shaft 6, which meshes with the gear J which drives the cam C at one-half speed of shaft 5; therefore the interrupter mechanism runs at engine speed. The cam C may be designed to operate the interrupter to produce sparks at any odd or even multiple of fifteen degrees. In the present example, the spark should occur at 45754575, so the following sequence of events takes place.

A spark is made by lobe C on cam C opening points my as rotor lobes N N and N break from P P and P respectively, (disregarding the S side of the ma chine).

S now passes P but no spark is produced, as there is no corresponding lobe on cam C to open points wy. N now passes P but no spark is produced.

S now passes P and a spark is produced because lobe C on cam 0 opens points m z The distance from C to C over the cam G represents one short interval, the dis tance from C to C a long interval, from C to C a short interval, etc. It will be observed that the flux waves generated when block F is between the points C G etc., are not utilized, but are re-pressed as sparks are not needed.

The high tension distributer in this particular case is mounted upon the engine and runs at half engine speed. The segments are etc., or 22{*37}22'}-, and so on. The secondary connection 10 connects to a high tension terminal or cable 11, which is connected to the rotating element D of the distributor. The distributer may be of any suitable type, and in the arrangement shown in Fig. 3, the brush T is connected to D and rotates within the casing, thereby distributing to the segments D D D etc, suitably placed at the proper angles and arranged to connect to the spark plugs indicated at 12.

The primary circuit of the magneto is indicated at 13, the secondary at 14:. The primary circuit is completed through the framework of the machine denoted at G. A condenser K is connected across the primary circuit in the usual manner. I have not described the construction of the magneto in detail, as details not specifically described are already well known.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the essential features of my invention consist in providing the pole pieces of the magneto with a plurality of faces, and in providing the rotor with a plurality of horns or prongs, thereby obtaining large opposed surfaces permitting the maximum amount of magnetic flow, and at the same time obtaining maximum breaking surface. This method also contemplates the arrange ment of the polar faces, so that sparks of equal intensity may be obtained at odd or even multiplesof a certain predetermined figure, which in the example here shown is fifteen degrees measured on the engine shaft.

The advantage of this is that it enables uni form sparks to be obtained without making therotor asymmetric or in any manner distorting the core pole pieces.

. While I have here shown a magneto in which each pole piece has three faces, and each rotor member has six lobes, it will be understood that I do not confine myself to such an arrangement, as it is obvious that for some engines, each rotor member would have only three lobes, and each pole piece only two faces, such as P and P. This would depend on the number and arrangements of the cylinders or upon the driving speed of the magneto.

It will be observed that, in any case, the magneto will have two polar extensions for the care of the generating windings, these extensions surrounding the rotor, and each extension having a plurality of polar faces, the distance between the polar faces on either of the extensions being greater than the combined thickness of any two adjacent prongs of the rotor.

It will be observed that by varying either the speed of the magneto, or the number of lobes on the rotor members, or 'both, that almost any desired combination of sparktiming can be obtained. The number of faces on each pole piece is also varied as desired.

The machine herein described is arranged for fixed ignition; no provision being made for advancing and retarding the time of the spark in relation to the engine pistons. If it is desired to supply a machine for a system wherein the timing of the spark must be varied, it is merely necessary to make the interrupter mechanism movable on its support and advance or retard it in increments of fifteen degrees, thereby always keeping the spark at the same intensity, advance or retard, as the points wy will always open on the peak. As such movable interrupter mechanisms are already Well known in the art, and as the mechanical construction necessary forms no part of this invention, I do not herein describe the same. In some cases the high tension distributer would be mounted directly upon the magneto, as shown in my Patent 1,229,045, dated June 5th, 1917, and the generating coil may be movable for timing purposes as therein described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The method of generating ignition current for internal combustion engines which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a symmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement ofthe; engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, and conducting the flux so gathered through a core carrying generating windings.

2. The method of generatingignition current for internal combustion engines, which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a symmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, passing the flux so collected through a core carrying generating windings, and interrupting the current so generated for supplying timed sparks.

3. The method of generating ignition current for internal combustion engines, which consists in. providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereofin a svmmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, passing the flux so collected through a core carrying generating windings, and interrupting the current so generated at its maximum peak for supplying sparks.

4. The method of enerating ignition current for internal combustion engines which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a symmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, conducting the flux so gathered through a core carrying generating windings, interrupting the current so generated for supplying sparks, said interruptions occurring at long and short increments of time, corresponding to the timing requirements of the engine;

5. The method of generating ignition current for internal combustion engines which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a symmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, conducting the flux so gathered through a core carrying generating windings and interrupting the circuit through said windings at intervals corresponding to the ignition timing of the engine.

6. The method of generating ignition cur rent for internal combustion engines which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a svmmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, conducting the flux so gathered through a core carrying generating windings and interrupting the circuit through said windings at long' and short intervals corresponding to the ignition timing of the engine. I

7. The method of generating ignition current for internal combustion engines, which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a symmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, intermittently completing and reversing the path of flux through a flux-receiving circuit having fluxgathering members of delta form, an ignition current generating coil adapted to be acted upon by said flux-receiving circuit, and means for interrupting the circuit through said generating coil in fixed timed relation to the peaks of current generated.

8. The method of generating ignition cur rent for internal combustion engines, which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force, shifting the flux thereof in a sym metrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, intermittently completing and reversing the path of flux through a flux-receiving circuit having fluxgathering members of delta form, an ignition current generating coil adapted to be acted upon by said flux-receiving circuit, and means for interrupting the circuit through said generating coil at odd and even intervals in fixed timed relation to the peaks of current generated.

9. In an ignition dynamo, a U-shaped magnet, an armature structure positioned between the ends of said magnet, two groups of laminations in said structure, each group forming three circumferential oppositely positioned pole shoes, and a rotor between said groups of laminations having a plurality of horns or prongs always of the same polarity.

10. The method of firing a twelve-cylinder forty-five degree four-cycle internal combustion engine, which consists in providing a primary magneto motive force,

shifting the flux thereof in a symmetrical figure by means controlled by the movement of the engine, collecting the flux from said shifting means through a plurality of paths, driving said element at twice engine crank shaft speed, repressing a number of current impulses and distributing to the engine cylinders the non-repressed or working impulses in asynchronous periods corresponding to the firing periods of the engine.

11. In an ignition dynamo, a magnet, a rotor comprising magnetic inductor elements in magnetic relation to the poles of said magnet, a current generating coil, a core for said coil having pole pieces, each pole piece having a plurality of faces adjacent the path of travel of said rotor.

12. In an ignition dynamo, a magnet having poles spaced apart, a rotor journaled to turn adjacent said poles and extending longitudinally from pole to pole of the magnet and having suitable bearing supports and comprising a pair of axially separated magnetic members of permanent and opposite polarity, each member having a plurality of horns or prongs, a current generating coil, a core therefor, and pole pieces for said core, each pole piece having a plurality of pole faces adjacent the path of travel of said rotor.

13. In an ignition dynamo, a magnet, a rotor having a pair of separated magnetic members, each member having a plurality of horns or prongs, pole pieces adjacent the path of travel of said rotor, each pole piece having a plurality of flux gathering pole faces, each one of said faces being adapted to span one of the rotor prongs, and a core carrying generating windings bridging said pole pieces.

14. An ignition dynamo comprising field and coil carrying structures, a rotor having its axis passing through the poles of the field structure, a plurality of pole pieces carried by said coil structure and having a common core, and a plurality of horns on the rotor having the same polarity and adapted to bridge the pole pieces not connected to the opposite ends of said core.

15. An ignition dynamo comprising field and coil carrying structures, a rotor having its axis passing through the poles of the field structure, a plurality of pole pieces carried by said coil structure and having a common core, and a plurality of horns on the rotor having the same polarity and adapted to simultaneously bridge all of the poles connected to one end of the core.

16. In combination with an internal combustion engine, a magneto having a rotor, said rotor having a plurality of horns of the same polarity, the horns projecting from one end of the rotor being arranged intermediate the horns projecting from the other end of the rotor, a coil carrying structure carrying windings, said coil carrying structure having two polar extensions each having a plurality of pole faces, the distance between which is greater than the combined thickness of two adjacent prongs on the rotor.

17. In combination with an internal combustion engine, a magneto having a rotor driven at twice engine speed, said rotor having a plurality of horns of the same polarity, the horns projecting from one end of the rotor being arranged intermediate the horns projecting from the other end of the rotor, a coil carrying structure carrying windings, said coil carrying structure having two polar extensions each having a plurality of pole faces the distance between which is greater than the combined thickness of two adjacent prongs on the rotor, said pole faces and prongs being so disposed as to produce magnetic waves in the coil carrying structure fifteen degrees apart relative to the engine crank shaft, an interrupter mechanism driven in synchronism with the engine and adapted to operate in synchronism with the peak of the magnetic Waves produced and a high tension distributor driven at half the speed of the engine and adapted to distribute the generated current to the cylinders of the engine in timed relation with the production of said magnetic Waves and the operation of said interrupter.

18. In combination With an internal combustion engine, a magneto generator adapted to produce ignition currents, said generator, having a magnetized rotor driven in timed relation to the engine and having more than three prongs or horns of each polarity,

two pole pieces in the magneto, each pole piece having a plurality of flux gathering faces, each face adapted to engage one of the rotor horns, a core connecting the free ends of said pole pieces and adapted to carry all of the flux gathered by all of the polar faces of said pole pieces, and interrupter mechanism adapted to be driven in timed relation With said rotor, whereby some of the flux impulses produced in said core may be utilized for ignition purposes and others repressed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

CHARLES THOMAS MASON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. 0. 

